OC HOUSING REPORT 3.13.17 – LOWER END IS HOT

• The active listing inventory increased by 111 homes in the past couple of weeks, a 2% rise, and now totals 4,571. There are 11% fewer homes that have come on the market so far this year compared to 2016. Within the prior month, 15% fewer homes have come on the market compared to last year. The inventory should start to rise as the market transitions into the spring and will most likely peak in mid-August.
• There are 50% fewer homes on the market below $500,000 compared to last year at this time and demand is down by 16%. Fewer and fewer homes and condominiums can now be found priced below $500,000. This price range is slowly vanishing.
• Demand, the number of pending sales over the prior month, decreased by 3% in the past couple of weeks, dropping by 75 and now totals 2,576. Today’s demand is 4% lower than last year when it totaled 2,671. The average pending price is $823,575.
• The average list price for all of Orange County is $1.7 million, up from $1.6 million two weeks ago. This number is high due to the mix of homes in the luxury ranges that sit on the market and the recent influx of luxury listings.
• For homes priced below $750,000, the market is HOT with an expected market time of just 31 days. This range represents 37% of the active inventory and 64% of demand.
• For homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million, the expected market time is 55 days, a seller’s market (less than 60 days). This range represents 19% of the active inventory and 19% of demand.
• For luxury homes priced between $1 million to $1.5 million, the expected market time is at 87 days, increasing by 13 in the past couple of weeks. For homes priced between $1.5 million to $2 million, the expected market time increased from 129 to 133 days. For luxury homes priced above $2 million, the expected market time increased from 227 to 252 days.
• The luxury end, all homes above $1 million, accounts for 44% of the inventory and only 17% of demand.
• The expected market time for all homes in Orange County increased slightly in the past couple of weeks from 50 to 53, a solid seller’s market (less than 60 days).
• Distressed homes, both short sales and foreclosures combined, make up only 1.7% of all listings and 3.6% of demand. There are only 25 foreclosures and 52 short sales available to purchase today in all of Orange County, that’s 77 total distressed homes on the active market, 8 fewer than two weeks ago, a drop of 9% and its lowest level since the start of the Great Recession 10 years ago. Last year there were 144 total distressed sales, 87% more.
• There were 1,879 closed sales in February, a 1% drop from January, but more than the 1,847 closed sales posted in February 2016. The sales to list price ratio was 97.3% for all of Orange County. Foreclosures accounted for just 1.2% of all closed sales and short sales accounted for 1.9%. That means that 96.9% of all sales were good ol’ fashioned equity sellers.